New Captain Chris: 'We really believe we could be up there this year'

05 Jul 2011 12:16:41

Former Plymouth Argyle & Southend United defender Chris Barker followed up his sweeping up of every Shrimpers player-of-the-season award by being awarded the skippers armband for the new campaign. Chris Barker: The Shrimpers new captain Events can move quickly in football, though not if your a midfielder looking for a loan from Crystal Palace, and with ex-captain Craig Easton hardly out of the Roots Hall door, Blues boss Paul Sturrock had announced at the first day of pre-season training that experienced defender and player-of-the-year Chris Barker was going to wear the armband for the new season. Barker in fact skippered the Shrimpers 15 times during the last campaign while Easton was injured, and he has high hopes for a real promotion push from the team this time around. Barker told www.echo-news.co.uk: “I’m really proud and pleased to have chosen as the team’s captain for this season. It was an honour when I wore the armband last year and it will be again this year too. I thought we made real progress last season, especially when you consider where the club were before we got going. We really believe we could be up there this year." We hope so new Captain Chris, we hope so. Best of luck mate. It's ex-player Craig!: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk Still excited for the new season? Have a vote: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/interactive/voting_polls.asp The Barker Files Personal information Full name Christopher Andrew Barker Date of birth 2 March 1980 (1980-03-02) (age 31) Place of birth Sheffield, England Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Playing position Defender Club information Current club Southend United Number 23 Youth career 1997–1999 Alfreton Town Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1999–2002 Barnsley 113 (3) 2002–2007 Cardiff City 159 (0) 2004 → Stoke City (loan) 4 (0) 2006–2007 → Colchester United (loan) 38 (0) 2007–2008 Queens Park Rangers 25 (0) 2008–2010 Plymouth Argyle 54 (0) 2010 → Southend United (loan) 4 (0) 2010– Southend United 39 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:56, 8 May 2011 (UTC).† Appearances (Goals). (Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full player info go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Barker)